AN: Hey guys! As I promised I haven't given up on this fic yet. I made a few minor changes to the first 9 chapters, nothing life-altering. Chapter 10 did become longer, so make sure to catch up on that.
Originally I had planned to wait with editing these until chapter 11 was finished, but I just wanted to update! But I'm working on it, so keep your eyes open. And if you're new here, welcome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on titan/ Shingeki no kyojin.
It was near the end of February, but snowflakes still fell out of the gray sky. Annie sighed as she walked through the filthy drab next to the road. It was friday, and she was glad that it was almost weekend. The weekends were her only chance to escape from the drag of daily life. She turned left at the crossroads, and her destination came in sight. Several teens dressed in the same uniform as Annie hurried towards the school, entering the warm building as fast as they could. Yet others preferred smoking a cigarette in front of the gates, shivering, but not willing to risk smoking on school property.
Annie walked past them, careful not to inhale the smoke clouding her path. She entered the building, the hallway was noisy and the floor wet, thanks to the many people gathered inside. She forced her way through the crowd, looking for a quiet place to spend the last few minutes before class started. When she didn't find a quiet place, she decided to go to her first class.
Most of the students were already seated, chatting with their friends. Annie slouched to her usual seat in the back of the class, next to the window. She glanced over to the smiling faces of her classmates, she didn't even know half of them by name, despite having been in the same class for years.
The teacher entered, drowning the voices as she immediately started where she had left of at their previous lesson. It didn't take long before Annie averted her gaze, blankly staring at the icicles formed on the window. No matter how enthusiastic Hanji sensei was, she had never managed to get Annie to show even the slightest interest in what she was saying. She had always been able to pass to the next grade, and this was her last year, no need to start putting an effort into it now.
"I will give you the last five minutes to discuss your group work, but remember, it has to be done by next wednesday!" Hanji sensei said, disturbing Annie's thoughts.
Mikasa walked over to Annie, an annoyed look on her face.
"It is called a group work for a reason, you know."
"So?"
"It's been two weeks and we still have nothing. I already found all the information we need, but I'm not going to make this alone."
"Why not? You just said you have everything you need."
"We get points for cooperation. If Hanji finds out I did it all by myself she'll fail us both."
"I don't care about grades." She stared blankly in Mikasa's eyes.
"Geez, Annie. Would it kill you to make your homework for once in your life?" she waited a little but when Annie didn't respond she went on, "If you don't care about your own grades that's just fine by me, but my grades depend on this too. So please just help me out, even if it's just a little."
Annie broke the eye contact, something in Mikasa's eyes made it impossible to keep refusing. "Fine" she sighed.
"Great!" Mikasa took an empty chair and sat down next to Annie. "We have a lot of work to do so I think we will need most of the weekend to finish it."
"What? In the weekend?" Annie nearly choked on the thought.
"If we wait until monday we simply won't have enough time. Sorry if you already made plans, but you should have thought about our group work first."
Annie sighed again, she didn't know Mikasa that well, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this one. "Fine, exactly when do you want to start on it and where?"
"If I remember correctly you live pretty close to school, so maybe we could do it at your place, if that's okay with you off course."
"How do you know where I live?" Mikasa opened her mouth to answer, but Annie simply went on. "Doesn't matter, you can come over if you want. Just let me know what time you wanna start. The sooner this is over the better."
"Well, if you think about it that way... perhaps we can start today, right after school."
"Fine." Annie picked up her bag, walking out of the classroom. She had never brought anyone home, just the thought of it made her get nervous. Not that she'd admit it.
School was finally over, Annie pulled her hood to avoid getting her hair wet. The snow had turned into rain during the day, an indication spring was coming closer.
As Annie walked past the gate, a hand grabbed her arm and she turned with an angry scowl.
"Shall we go together?" Mikasa said on a friendly tone.
Annie pulled her arm loose, and allowed Mikasa to walk next to her on her way home. The school was placed near the outskirts of the city, and they soon left the houses behind them. After not having seen any buildings for a couple of minutes, a house came within sights, surrounded by trees.
The walls were painted white, and big windows allowed passerby's a glimpse of the interior.
With shivering hands Annie unlocked the door, and the girls quickly stepped inside.
They hung their jackets on the hook in the hall, then Annie opened the door to their right, leading to the living room. The room was big, and the lack of furniture made it seem even bigger. Only a muddy brown couch and a wooden table near the fireplace showed that the house was inhabited.
Annie dropped her bag near the fireplace, and took a lighter out of her pocket.
Mikasa looked around the room while Annie tried to get a fire started. The walls were white and empty, gray curtains hung next to the wide windows, rain streaming down the glass.
"Have you always lived here?" she asked.
"Yeah."
No wonder Annie was always so gloomy. Despite the rain and cold being kept away, the house still gave off a depressing feeling. The fire had now grown, and Mikasa went to warm herself by it. Annie left the room, and came back a little later with towels and blankets. The girls dried their hair and sat down close to the fire, wrapped in a blanket.
"So... what was the topic of our work?" Annie asked, wanting to get this over with.
"Environment friendly transportation. Everything there is, and some further explanation as to why and safety." she replied in an annoyed tone.
Annie sighed as Mikasa took a bunch of papers out of her bag. How did teachers keep doing that, coming up with more and more boring homework. They got started, and thanks to Mikasa's previously gathered information they had written down a few pages when their stomachs started to growl.
"How about we take a break and eat something?" Mikasa asked.
"There's some soup left in the kitchen, we can eat it with some bread."
"Is that all you have?" Mikasa asked cautiously.
"No, but it's a bit late to start cooking so that will have to do. You coming?" Annie stood up and walked towards the door.
Mikasa followed her towards the kitchen. Unlike the living room, the kitchen had plenty of furniture, making it seem like they entered another house. A wide variety of pots and pans was displayed on a shelf, all of them shining as if they were bought today. More spices than Mikasa had ever seen stood lined up over the length of the furnace, somebody liked to cook. Annie opened a closet and took some bowls. Mikasa noticed that the upper shelves of the closet were empty.
"Do you live here on your own?"
"Since a few years."
"Where are your parents?"
"That's none of your business." Annie said annoyed.
This was exactly why she didn't want to get involved with others, they only kept asking about things they had no business with. It was beyond her why she had let Mikasa into her house in the first place. Ignoring the apology of her guest, she filled the bowls with soup and put them in the microwave. Then she put some bread on the table and waited for the soup to warm.
Mikasa tried the soup, and looked as if she wanted to say something. Now what? Annie thought.
"Mmm, this is delicious! Did you make this yourself?"
"Yeah." she replied, this time with a slight smile on her face.
After dinner they worked a little further, while the rain gushed down harder and harder, slowly turning into hail. They didn't notice how bad the weather had become, until Mikasa got a phone call.
"Hello, Eren... Yeah, I'm still at Annie's... Is the weather really that bad? ... I'll ask her." She looked at Annie, who was staring into the fire. "Annie, apparently the weather is too bad to even risk driving. Would you mind if I stay for the night?"
"Oh, sure, you can stay, I guess." It was not like she had much of a choice.
Mikasa ended her phone call, and looked at the papers in front of her with a sigh.
"I think we did enough for today." she said and started collecting them.
They had been sitting in silence for a few minutes when Mikasa tried to start a conversation.
"What do you usually do during the weekends?"
"Nothing really." Annie exposed her lie by looking longingly at the darkness outside.
"I mostly play games with Eren, it is fun, but when he loses he always gets angry and throws the cards around."
Annie didn't reply and another silence fell between them. Mikasa tried starting a conversation a couple more times, but with the amount of Annie's replies she might as well be talking to the wall. She sighed and checked her watch, it was a little past nine. Perhaps one last try would get Annie to finally come out of her loner attitude.
"Just sitting here is kinda boring, but it's way too early to sleep. Would you mind showing me the rest of your house?"
Annie stared at her for a while, then sighed and slowly rose to her feet, leading Mikasa through the many rooms. Most were empty, save for a closet or a table. Even the bathroom wasn't as full as the kitchen. The biggest surprise came when they entered the basement. A boxing bag hung in a corner, near it wasn't placed anything else, but in the rest of the basement stood racks filled with parts and gas bottles. One completed example showed what the parts were for.
"Is that a 3DMG? But Annie, that's illegal."
"No it isn't. Selling them is illegal, simply owning them isn't."
"Where do you get that idea?"
"My dad used to sell them, back when it was still legal. It was really expensive, so it barely sold. But there were some idiots who thought they didn't need the instructions and got themselves killed. It was all over the news how dangerous it was so there were people returning them. And since there barely was anyone who still had 3DMG they just put a hold to selling them, not using them."
Mikasa took in what she had just heard, slightly surprised at how much Annie had said.
"Do you know how to use it?" As soon as she asked a smile ghosted over Annie's face.
"Yeah..." she said dreamily.
"What is it like?"
"It's hard at the beginning, but once you get used to it, it feels like you can fly. Rainy and cold weather are not so nice since there is a lot of wind at that speed, but it is the greatest feeling in the world."
Mikasa smiled at Annie's enthusiasm, it was the first time she ever saw her happy. Sure, Annie had smiled before, but the smile had never reached her eyes, until now, and she looked really beautiful.
"Can you teach me?"
"Errr... it's not really something you can do indoors, but I can give you the instructions if you want." she said, reaching in a box and handing a small book to Mikasa.
"Thanks, Annie. But when the weather is better you'll teach me, right?"
"Uh, sure, I guess."
"It's a promise."
Somehow, Mikasa's smile copied itself on Annie's face. Together they went upstairs, to the first floor, and entered Annie's room. It was obvious where Annie spent most of her time. The room was only half as big as the living room, but packed with stuff. A king sized bed stood in the middle of the right wall, above the bed hung an enlarged picture of a lake surrounded by trees, taken from a high place. At the opposing wall stood a desk with a TV and a laptop.
Next to the door were two closets, and the floor near the opposing wall was a meter higher than the rest of the floor, making it level with the wide windows. Pictures hung at every visible spot on the walls, making it impossible to know what color they had. Stuffed animals were scattered all over the room, and Annie nervously rubbed her arm, eyeing the clothes lying on the floor.
"Wow." was all Mikasa could say.
Annie lifted her gaze from the unsorted laundry and warily glanced at Mikasa.
"This is so different from the rest of the house, it's almost like a different world."
"... Is that a good thing?" Annie asked.
"I don't get you. You live by yourself, yet you still keep everything in your room. If you decorated the whole house like this it would be really cheerful, not depressing like it is now."
"..."
"I don't… I mean, it just seems a bit gloomy with so little furniture. As if there isn't anyone actually living there."
Annie scowled at her. Who was she to judge her?
"…But maybe the house reflects its owner very well. You always seem so... distant, but maybe, maybe deep inside you're actually a warm and caring girl." Mikasa carefully added.
Annie felt her cheeks getting hot, she couldn't think of anything to say. She really shouldn't have let Mikasa into her house.
Mikasa came a little closer, a cautious look on her face. "Don't you feel lonely, always being by yourself like that?"
Annie still couldn't think of anything to say, since when was Mikasa so good at reading her? No, she wasn't reading her, and that stingy feeling in her eyes was her just being tired, nothing more. Actually, why was she saying any of these things? This was not the Mikasa she knew. And why should she care anyway, she didn't need any of this.
Mikasa surprised her by pulling her in a hug, not very tight, so she could still push her away if she didn't like it. They stood like that for a few minutes, then Annie put her hands on Mikasa's waist, barely touching, but enough to feel the warmth. She let out a shuddering breath, as much as she liked it, she was also slightly frightened by what was happening.
Why do I like this so much? Annie wondered. Mikasa was the one she got into most fights with, it didn't make any sense. Yet there she was, unable to let go of her. Mikasa stroked her back.
"Don't worry, I will stay with you as long as you want."
Annie didn't respond, whether she ordered her body to hold her tighter or let go, her body simply wouldn't move.
When she finally let go, she didn't dare to look at Mikasa's face.
"It's past ten already, maybe we should go to bed." Mikasa broke the silence. "Where can I sleep?"
"Um..." Annie shaked the nervous, but nice feeling away. "On the couch downstairs. I don't have any extra beds."
"Okay. Goodnight, Annie." Mikasa kissed her on her cheek, and left the room.
Annie grabbed one of her stuffed animals, cuddling it until she fell asleep, with a smile on her face.